Francisco A. S. Cafalli (1929–2014)☆

1972, for the study “Percutaneous intramedullary fixation of Francisco A. S. Cafalli, Dr. Cafalli, or simply Cafalli, as he liked to be called by his friends, was born in São Paulo, the son of Italians, and always stood out because of his unparalleled politeness, tenacity and intelligence. He completed his middle and high school education with honorable mentions at the Dante Alighieri Italian-Brazilian Secondary Education Institute, which was later renamed the Dante Alighieri College. He was admitted to the Medical School of the University of São Paulo (USP) through the university entrance examination in 1948, and passed in third place. There, during the medical course, he spent time with illustrious professors of the medical school and he began his scientific career with awards and published papers. He graduated in medicine in December 1953 and chose orthopedics as his specialty, attracted by the prominence of the recently inaugurated building of the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, then known as the Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic, which comprised a structure of ten floors and an annex of three floors, with floor area of around 20,000 m2. He completed his internship and medical residency in orthopedic and traumatological clinical medicine (29th professorship) at the teaching hospital of the USP Medical School between 1954 and 1956, under the direction of Professor F. E. Godoy Moreira. He was admitted as an auxiliary teacher and physician. In 1959, he obtained study bursaries funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by the Brazilian Coordination Office for Improvement of Higher-Education Personnel